Be Careful What You Let In

Romans 6:12-14 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
One of our small group lessons had a great illustration on the growth of sin. Have you ever heard of Kudzu? Have you ever tried to cut and clear land covered by Kudzu and keep it from coming back? It is not easy, is it?  Kudzu is known as the vine that ate the south, it is a nuisance, but it didn’t start out that way.

In the 1930s, the US government brought this vine in from Asia and paid farmers to plant kudzu to protect against soil erosion. But what started as a good thing grew out of control. The warm summers and mild winters caused it to flourish until by 2010, it had taken over seven million acres across the Southeast.  Likewise there are so many things that seem harmless, fun, or even helpful that do slow unseen damage to our lives. Before we know it, we have surrendered control to them and we start fighting for them against God in our life. (1)

Your life is a weapon of righteousness. By that I mean the way you live, the way you talk, the way you act is a weapon that is meant to show God’s grace, love and honor. It is meant to cut through the lies of this world with love and humility so that others see the mercy and grace of God. That is the last thing the devil wants the world to see. The devil would love to disarm any part of your testimony, to get a toehold in one part of your life so that he can try to tear down the rest of it.

Be careful what you let in.

In Romans 6, Paul shows us that sin is an invader and our mortal bodies are the battleground on which it is fighting.  We have a choice to make.  Do we let our Creator, the Rightful King who loves us and died for us rein in our lives or do we let this invader, sin, reign instead?  Paul helps us see that sin is not just an isolated thing we do, it is an active, growing power. 

You know I’ve never seen Kudzu grow. I have seen where it has grown and overtaken, but I’ve never watched the vines spread. It just seems like it is this size one day, manageable, but I wake up a few days later and it had grown to something so big I might as well not even try to fight it. Sin is the same way. It may look still and unmoving but it is not. It is growing and devouring.

The goal of sin is to wreck your life by attempting to dethrone God in your life.  It then can turn you into a weapon against those you love.  Sin must be in control and it must destroy.  Our job is to not let sin rule even one part of our life, to not let him even get a toehold. If sin does enter in we must be honest enough to go before God and ask Him to clear it out - we can not do it on our own.   We must strive to live a life that is used as a weapon of good - loving, helping others, and not a life under control of the one who only wants to destroy and kill.

Living under grace is pure freedom but it is not freedom from responsibilities. We must not only consider how our actions, addictions, and choices affect us, but how they affect others. Are your actions glorifying Christ or are they pointing your friends and family to seek answers in the world instead of in Christ?

What are you doing with this new life in Christ this morning? Who will be controlling you today?

To discover more, visit Oak Grove Baptist Church.

1. Bible Studies For Life https://blog.lifeway.com/biblestudiesforlife/extra-ideas-for-adults-engaging-culture-in-an-ever-changing-world-session-4/

Love Limits Liberty

Love Limits Liberty

1st Corinthians 10:23-24 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person. [HCSB]

What is Christian Liberty. We talk about having liberty in Christ, about how where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. These are all very true statements but what do they mean?

In essence, liberty is freedom from oppression. Throughout the New testament we see that through Christ we are free from the law, free from the frustration of our fallen nature’s inability to keep God’s law, but we are not free from God’s standards.

In other words I can not punch you in the face and then say “I am free in Christ!” Liberty is not saying I can continue to do things that harm myself or my marriage or my children or my community and excuse it with the name of Christ.

"Contrary to popular opinion, freedom is not the ability to do whatever one desires. This inevitably leads to enslavement to our own passions. Rather, the Bible defines freedom as the ability to deny one’s self, to deny one’s desires in the interest of pleasing and glorifying God." ~ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

If you look at our liberty as being free to glorify God then all of sudden you see we are honestly being held to an even higher standard. That’s what Paul is getting to here in his letter to the church at Corinth, when he says “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person. All of a sudden we realize our liberty is not just about not doing wrong, it is about building up our brothers.

A good example of this in our culture today would be alcohol. No where in the Bible does it say that merely drinking alcohol is a sin, but there are many places in the Bible where it warns us against drinking too much. The Bible paints a picture where not only is drunkenness a sin but letting alcohol get in the way of your relationship with others and with God is a sin, however, having a drink with dinner or a beer with friends and keeping your consumption moderate and within boundaries is not a sin.

BUT still I choose not to drink alcohol at all. Period. I do not drink at home, I do not drink away from home. I do not drink in Cleveland, in Charleston or in Timbuktu no matter where I am at or the situation, I do not consume alcohol. Why? I just explained that it is not sinful to drink in moderation so why do I abstain? Liberty.

If I am ministering to a recovering alcoholic and they see me drinking, even in moderation, then I have given the devil a weapon they can use against them. They may think “Hey the Pastor drinks so I can too and before you know it they are back in the chains of addiction. What if one of our children or youth hear me talk about having a drink and then decide it’s okay for them to follow my example, but they don't realize how dangerous it is to drink and get behind the wheel? Who would be responsible for their actions? Of course they are held accountable for their own choices but I would share the blame.

In my liberty I choose to deny myself so that I will not lead others astray, even accidentally. It is not always about being right or wrong it is about not being a stumbling block. In the sixties the band the Monkees had a hit song “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone”, but as Christians perhaps we should think more like “I’m Not Your Tripping Stone."  I am more than happy to be a stepping stone for you on your walk of faith that leads you closer to Christ. I do not want to be the stone you trip over on that walk.

What preferences or activities do you have in your personal life that may trip up someone else? What does this liberty to restrain ourselves look like when it comes to our church life? Well one thing that should become obvious within the church is that our liberty should not get in the way of our mission.

To discover more, visit Oak Grove Baptist Church